Why I wanna get a Xeon E3-1231 v3 instead of i7-4770
If you're wondering why I prefer getting the E3-1231 v3 than an i7-4770, check this out. It's basically newer (Q2 2014) and is the Haswell Refresh series. Both have hyperthreaded quad core (which sums up to 8 logical cores). Both have 3.4GHz base speed. However, the E3-1231 v3 has only 3.8 GHz turbo speed as opposed to 4770's 3.9 GHz. Quite insignificant though, so I don't think the impact would be noticeable especially it's just the turbo speed and not the base one. It has a lower TDP (80 vs. 84), meaning that it uses less power, but delivers the similar performance. It supports ECC memory, but I ain't gonna buy those kinds of RAM anyway, since it's completely pointless for gaming. Standard DDR3 RAM is enough. It doesn't have any integrated GPU, however, it's also not worth it since I'm gonna replace it with a GTX 960 or 1060 (if it comes out), so the integrated GPU is thrown to the trash. Both can't be overclocked as the multiplier is totally locked in Haswell and above unlike in architectures prior to it. The most important thing is, it comes with a CHEAPER price, despite the quite minor difference (the lack of integrated GPU doesn't count). 100 MHz less turbo speed? No problem. At least this gets around 9600 points on Passmark, compared to around 9800 on the 4770, which is not really a significant difference, since it's only around 200 points worse than the 4770. It works with regular H97/Z97 motherboards, so there should be no problems using this on those kinda boards. The rest of the stuff is completely useless for gaming, so I won't highlight them. For the price over here? See below (converted from IDR to USD and then rounded as of May 6, 2016). xeon1231.png|This one is for E3-1231 v3 (bottom), which costs $250. For some reason the weaker one, which is the E3-1230 v3 is WAY more expensive than it ($301) 1233221.png|The cost for a Core i7 on this retailer. Note that this a trustworthy retailer, and quite popular among the others. However, price here is somewhat inconsistent since the 4790 is cheaper than 4770 for whatever reason. Costs $315 at the time this was written (compared to the 4790 which is only $295). The i5-4690K costs $230, which isn't really worth it due to its worse multithreaded performance. i7321.png|This one is from another retailer. Costs $290 at the time this was written Here are some comparison charts of cost, Passmark score, and price-performance ratio of the E3-1231 v3, i7-4770, and i5-4690K. cost.png pmscore.png ppratio.png|The E3-1231 v3 is a clear winner in terms of price-performance ratio Yeah, that saves me some cash, and the difference in performance is insignificant, so that $40 difference is indeed worth it. That could help me to build the full rig a bit quicker. Obviously, the Xeon has a higher price-performance ratio, since it offers a similar performance to the 4770 at a lower price. The Xeon line is basically underrated. No one wants it because it's a "server CPU". However, a nice difference in price-performance ratio like this is really great, and it should be reconsidered when buying a CPU with similar specs. The v5 series (Skylake) and the upcoming versions are a bit harder to use, since Intel was foolish enough to make it not work on regular H170/Z170 motherboards. It requires the E3V5 board to work, which might be a bit more expensive, depending on manufacturers and features. The Xeon E5 and E7 series are not worth it, since it's just really overkill for a gaming rig. The E3 is what you should get. Preferably the v3 series (Haswell). However, if you find a great deal when searching for E5 or E7 (such as getting the 8-core version for only $100), then buy it. Sure, it's overkill, but it makes for some powerful rig if you wanna render things too (like editing videos in Premiere/Vegas/Camtasia Studio before uploading) besides for gaming.